Try Something New
by HollyeLeigh
Summary: Set in Season 2, what if Hook warned the princess squad that Cora had sent a mob of undead after them… and got a little whumped along the way? Canon divergent 2x08.


_**Set in Season 2, what if Hook warned the princess squad that Cora had sent a mob of undead after them... and got a little whumped along the way? Canon divergent 2x08. Written for wyntereyez who sent me the undead, "No, stop!", and lifted by the neck from my Spooktober Roulette.**_

 _ **Whump Lite: reanimated dead, chased, struck in the head, lifted by the neck, choked / ~2000 words**_

* * *

Hook's intuition had been correct. Cora had returned to the camp where she had massacred the refugees and left him buried under their corpses for the princesses to find. He waited in the shadows for her to emerge from one of the structures, but before he could confront her he witnessed something that made his blood run cold.

A ghoulish red glow illuminated her face from the pulsating heart in her hand. "Rise," she commanded coldly, and immediately the dead began to stir. Standing at attention, they awaited her instruction before setting off into the night, giving chase to the princesses and, unbeknownst to Cora, a pirate.

~/~

Emma watched Aurora fall back into the abyss of sleep; a gnawing sensation churning in her stomach. She wanted to have hope, really she did, but it all seemed so...hopeless. The thought of Henry being in a room of fire was gut wrenching; and the way Aurora and Snow had described it, she was dubious that a message could actually be passed under such circumstances.

She felt Snow's presence follow after her as she retreated several meters back from the sleeping princess.

"Hey," Snow whispered as she grabbed Emma's hand reassuringly. "It'll be okay. You'll see Henry again. This will work."

Before Emma could reply, the sound of snapping twigs drew their attention to the thicket in front of them. Snow readied her bow and took a protective stance in front of Emma, which irritated her for a number of reasons. Before Snow could let loose one of her arrows as warning a familiar voice called out _Swan_ from the tree line.

"Hook? How in the hell did you get here?" A wave of something that might have been relief swept through her at the sight of him, but she forced it back into the hole she had determined to dump all things pirate down into and forget.

"There's no time for that," the pirate dismissed as he rushed into their clearing, which prompted Mulan to take up a defensive stance beside the still sleeping Aurora. "We have to go. We have to keep moving. It isn't safe here."

"Uh… there is no _we_ -"

"What do you mean it isn't safe?" Mulan questioned, cutting off Emma's retort.

"It's Cora," Hook went on to explain. "She reanimated the slain refugees from the camp and has sent them after you." His face went on quite a journey as he considered his next words before admitting, "She seeks the compass."

"The compass?" Snow replied. "How does she know-"

"You told her," Emma stated knowingly. She wasn't the only open book between them.

"She was waiting for me when I reached the bottom of the beanstalk after _your giant_ finally let me go," Hook explained with a bit of bite to his words. "I had to tell her what became of the compass. I even offered to retrieve it for her."

"And how do we know that isn't what you're doing now?" Mulan questioned, her sword still poised in his direction, though it seemed to do little in the way of intimidating the pirate.

"You don't," Hook quipped. "But Emma does."

All eyes fixed themselves on her, but his were the only ones she felt. Blazing in their urgency, she knew that he was telling them the truth. He'd come to warn them, to help them. Despite her betrayal he was still willing to give their alliance a shot, and yet…

"Don't make the same mistake you did atop that beanstalk, Swan," he pleaded softly, his awareness of her uncertainty written in his expression. "Trust your gut, it'll tell you what to do."

~/~

Killian could see the war waging inside the fiery blonde before him. The look on her face when he'd emerged from the thicket hadn't escaped his notice, and he'd known in that moment that she'd regretted leaving him behind. He understood why she'd done it, of course. The hours he'd spent chained in the giant's treasure room had allowed him to come to terms with her betrayal. As good of a team as they'd made, and as much as he thought he'd proven himself trustworthy, he _was_ a pirate. It shouldn't have surprised him that she wouldn't have been willing to risk returning to her son on a rogue such as he.

But he needed that trust from her now.

She had said she couldn't take a chance that she was wrong about him, and he needed her to draw upon whatever it was she'd seen in him before and believe in it this time. There was no way of knowing what sort of power Cora had given the undead souls making their way to them, but he sure as hell didn't want to wait around and find out.

And he didn't want Swan to either.

She chewed her lip in consideration of his words before opening her mouth to speak. He caught the quick flick of her widening eyes before the sounds of snapping brush erupted behind him. Spinning, he drew his sword, ready to engage with the first of Cora's hapless minions that appeared from the shadows of the forest. Arrows whistled past his ear as he clashed with a vacant eyed brute of a man, clearly enhanced in strength by the witch that now controlled his heart.

The princess' arrows had done their job well, giving them a cushion of distance where they might be able to outrun the remaining mob. Hook dispatched the brute with a move he'd honed and perfected over his many centuries then turned to Swan and her mother.

"Go!" he shouted. "You have to run!"

"What about you?" Emma asked as her mother tried to pull her toward the path the warrior and other princess had already fled down.

"I'll be right behind you," he promised, claiming her eyes with his own and offering her a quick nod to backup the vow. "Now, go!" She mirrored the gesture then took off into the forest.

Hook had heard tales of reanimated corpses on his travels to other realms. Rushing towards the camp's small fire, he hoped the accounts of their fear of flames would prove true. Armed with a branch he'd set ablaze, he made haste after the princesses, lighting any dry or withered bits of forest in his wake. It was reckless, but it was also their best chance to ensure the corpses couldn't follow.

Smoke choked the air around him, and his heart hammered in his chest as he sprinted through the trees. Every so often he'd catch a glimpse of Swan's golden hair which propelled him forward when his lungs began to protest. He caught up to the women, who'd paused to catch their breath, but knew they needed to keep moving. The fire had slowed, but not stopped their pursuers, evidenced by the crashing sounds echoing through the trees from behind.

"We need… to keep moving," Hook panted.

"I don't think… we can… outrun them," Emma responded, equally out of breath.

"Head east," Hook instructed, waving the smoldering branch in the direction he'd indicated. "My ship is moored in an inlet offshore. We'll be able to cast off and get away once we're aboard."

The cacophony of approaching chaos thundered louder in his ears, and they all took off once more through the trees. The ground became more treacherous with roots jutting up through the carpet of leaves on the forest floor, and downed trees blocking their path. Hook tossed the useless branch aside when it was no longer capable of providing them with the cover of fire, and could hear the mob gaining ground on them without the deterrent of flames. He saw Emma chance a glance back at him just as something caught him around the ankles, pulling him down to the ground.

"Hook!"

"Don't stop!" he commanded. "Keep going!"

He watched Snow pull Emma along before he rolled onto his back and gave a swift kick to the minion that had tripped him up. He'd only just regained his stance, sword drawn and ready to face the throng when he was struck upside his head. Stars exploded in his vision and he stumbled backward. His sword was knocked from his grip and the swing of his hook was deflected by a massive arm. If he hadn't recently spent time in the presence of a true giant, Hook would have mistaken this new brute for one.

An iron grip wrapped around Hook's neck and his feet left the ground, hoisted up against the nearest tree with the brute's hand threatening to crush his airway. He slashed at the trunk like arm with his hook, but the reanimated must not have been able to feel pain. Hook clawed at the hand clenched around his neck, desperate to draw air into his lungs. Black spots began swimming before him and his arms and legs felt heavy as he continued to dangle against the tree. The pressure in his chest was screaming for release, the pain radiating up through the top of his head turned his face a deep shade of crimson. With his consciousness slipping from him, Hook hoped that Emma and her mother would be able to return to their land without his assistance. Though, he had little doubt that the tough lass would ever fail at anything she set her mind to.

As if conjured by his thoughts, he heard Swan shout, "No! Stop!" before he unceremoniously crumpled to the ground at the base of the tree.

Air rushed back into his lungs in an agonizing fashion, leaving him gasping and sputtering while rubbing his bruised neck. Brandishing his sword, Swan fought off the remaining mob with her mother and the lady warrior at her side. He couldn't help the impressed brow that inched up his forehead as the fourth of their number attempted to assist him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" the woman, Aurora he remembered, asked.

"Aye," he croaked, wincing at the tenderness of his throat.

Within a matter of moments the battle was over. Cora's victims lay still upon the ground once more, hopefully free to move on to a better place now that they'd served their purpose. Or would she be able to call them up again? Would they ever be free as long as she held their hearts? Hook shuddered at the thought then turned his attention to the approaching blonde.

"Here," she offered, extending his sword to him. "You'd probably like this back."

"Thank you, love." Hook sheathed his sword and looked around at the eyes all fixed on him. Suddenly unsure of where he stood among their number, he reached up to scratch behind his ear as he posed, "The offer of my ship and my services still stands. I will help you get back to your land if you'll agree to take me with you."

"I think that sounds reasonable."

Snow's answer surprised them all, as did her determined steps in the direction of his ship. After a sideways glance from the warrior and her companion, they followed in her wake, leaving Hook and a disquieted Swan behind.

"You came back for me." He hadn't intended to say the words. His disbelief coated each syllable and exposed a vulnerability he would usually be loathe to reveal.

"Yeah, well." She shuffled her feet, the same vulnerability making its way through the cracks he could see behind her armor. Lifting her head, she met his gaze and his breath caught at the rarity he knew this raw show of emotion was for her. "Maybe I learned my lesson from the last time I left you behind, and decided to... try something new."


End file.
